The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1887-11-12

cutting through IL IA tHo
which prevailed down there l ran
plump up against q mass of rock In the
path. and when / had burned q match
or two fully realized the situation.
was in a trap. 1t was not likely that
the Indians yet knew of my location,
They knew that one or more white
men were in the valley. but could not
tell Just where. 1t was morning. you
remember. and before night came they
would know all about it. They would
creep and dodge and reconnoitre. and
before noon they would be certain that
they had only one man to deal with.
Any attempt to leave by way of the
valley would be checkmated, and /
could not get out at the upper end
without going over the wild and rugged
mountains. 1 should. however. have
returned to the mouth of the gulch to
try some other way. but while was
burning last match ! heard a great
clatter on the rocky bed of the rift
few yards off. Believing the Indians
to be coming. looked swiftly around
for some place of concealment or adj
vantage, and to my right l saw q hole
in the rocks. In three jumps / was at
the spot, and ten seconds later / had
crawled into the hole on hands and
knees. The minute got my nose in
side smelt bear. Indeed, the -odor
was strong enough TO stifle me. /
knew also that had entered den or
cave of considerable extent and /
hastily struck match to look around
me. It was a cave. While the en-
trance was very narrow, the chamber
was at least eight by twelve in size,
and high enough for me to stand up
in.
i It required only a few seconds to
take in what have told you, and the
match had just expired when I heard q
sniff and 'woof!'' at the entrance,
and not only smelt bear, but l heard
him. He had his head in the hole, and
; whirled my rifle about and fired right
into his face. The roar he uttered
shook the solid rock of the cavern, and
he drew back, tumbled about in the
gulch for two or three minutes, and
then made of. whining with pain and
growing with anger as he went When
could hear him no more, lighted
another match and looked for hairs on
, the rocks. They were there in plenty,
, and they were proofs that 1t was Gin
! namon bear whom had turned out Of
! house and home. There was couple
of loose rocks on the floor of the den.
and the first move / made was to roll
i them up and block the entrance. While
kthey did not fill the aperture, they
created an obstruction which neither
t man nor bear could remove while was
behind them.
} In about twenty minutes the bear re.
! turned, accompanied by his mate. and
for the next half hour they made lively
t work for me. They were fiercely de
{ termined to get at me, and. as die
3 not wish to discharge my rifle again
D for fear the report would be heard BY
r the Indians, l had to resist them By
= iamming their heads with the muzzle
d The brutes gave it up at last as bat
b job, but while the well one went ava.
Il the wounded one lay down exactly il
. front of the entrance and licked hi
, wounds and uttered low growls. HI
had put himself on guard, and h
{ meant to stay by until he had had re
q venge l had hastily gathered up I
q small quantity of provisions when
t left camp. and, though had no water
!. l should not suffer much for coupl
|, of days. The only thing / could d
Q was to make myself as comfortable a
' possible and wait for something to turl
) up. cared very little about the bears
q knowing that could kill them off a
. any time, but the Indians were to b
seriously considered. They woul'
: leave no stone unturned to find m,
1 hiding place, and once they found me
l situated as l then was, / was dea'
: man.
a. There was no change in the situation
' until about shutdown. when the othe
!, bear returned, and a second attemp
!, was made to get at me. They were .
o determined that had to use my re
' volver. firing four shots. and, Will
!. neither of them was killed, both wer
= driven to fury by the wounds. The on
: went off as before. while the other la
|. down at the mouth of the den, and tn
q night passed without disturbance.
q slept pretty well for man in q bear
q den. but awake just as daylight wa
q filtering down into the gulch. 1t wa
}, . fierce roar from the bear whic
n aroused me. 1 thought his mate ha
d returned and that another attempt wa
to be made on my defences, but Wa
le quickly set right The bear starte
d down the gulch. and inside Of . minut